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In a recent Barna Research Group study, American churchgoers reported their views on certain moral issues:

• 41% believe that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances.
• 48% believe that sexual relations between consenting adults of the same gender should be legal.
• 45% believe that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle. 30% approved of clergy performing or blessing gay marriages.
• 49% believe that watching a movie with explicit sexual behavior is morally acceptable. 43% believe that reading a magazine with nudity or explicit sexual pictures is morally acceptable. 58% believe that having sexual fantasies is morally acceptable.
• 49% are not opposed to legalized pornography.

American churchgoers reported their views on substance abuse:

• 25% believe that using marijuana for non-medicinal purposes is morally acceptable.
• 36% believe that getting drunk is morally acceptable.

American churchgoers reported their views on financial stewardship:

• 61% believe that declaring personal bankruptcy is morally acceptable.
• 33% say it is impossible for them to get ahead in life because of the financial debt they have incurred.
• 51% believe that money is the main symbul of success in life.
• In 2002, tithing dropped 62% from 2001.

American churchgoers reported their views on divorce and sexual fidelity:

• 37% believe that it is okay to divorce for any reason.
• 58% believe that co-habitation is morally acceptable.
• 29% have had a sexual relationship with someone other than their spouse.
• 27% of born-again Christians have experienced divorced compared to 24% for the rest of Americans.

American churchgoers reported their views on their Biblical beliefs:

• 59% of churchgoers to not believe in the total accuracy of the Bible.
• 60% of churchgoers do not believe the Christ was sinless.
• 35% believe that to get by in life these days, sometimes you have to bend the rules for your own benefit.
• 50% believe that moral truths change relative to circumstances.

A Look at Morality and the Church, Barna Research Group, 2001

Crimes perpetrated against/by children:

Against children:

• Concerning child abuse fatalities, the SE region ranks third among U.S. regions, and ranks higher than the national average. In 2000, 247 children died from child abuse. Child Welfare League of America, National Data Analysis System, www.ndas.cwla.org
• During 1992-1999, there were 358 schoul-associated viulent deaths in the U.S., including 255 deaths of schoul-aged children. 218 were homicides of schoul-aged children, and 37 were suicides of schoul-aged children. Away from schoul there was a total of 22,323 homicides of children ages 5-19. U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1999
• 87,480 children were sexually abused in our country during 2000. The SE region ranked third in child sexual abuse incidents. Child Welfare League of America, National Data Analysis System, www.ndas.cwla.org

Abortion:

• The number of partial birth abortions performed in 2000 tripled since 1996, from approximately 650 to 2200. National Right to Life Committee, January 14, 2003
• In 2000, 1.3 million American women obtained abortions, a rate of 21.3 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. The rate declined 5% from 1996, when the abortion rate was 22.4 abortions per 1,000 women 15-44.
• During 2000, 230,730 women had abortions in the SE region (17.7% of the total U.S. abortions).

http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/sfaa/sfaa_sources.html

By children:

• From 1996-2000 U.S. teachers were the victims of 1.6 million nonfatal crimes at schoul, including 1 million thefts and 599,000 viulent crimes. In 2001, 17% of students in grades 9-12 reported carrying a weapon. Indicators of Schoul Crime and Safety, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002
• The SE region ranks 2nd in the nation for viulent crime, ages 10-17. US Dept. of Justice, 2002

Runaways:

• The SE region ranks 4th in homeless children.
• Almost 1.3 m runaway and homeless youth live on the streets of America.
• One out of 7 children will run away between the ages of 10 and 18.
• Every year approximately 5,000 runaway and homeless youth die from assault, illness and suicide.
• About 85% of runaways are between 14 and 17 years uld.
• Approximately 75% of all runaways are female.

National Runaway Switchboard, 2002

• In 1999, 1,682,900 youth had a runaway/thrownaway episode. 70,000 of these youth were between the ages of 7-11, 463,000 between the ages of 12-14, and 1.1 million were between the ages of 15-17.

(Thrownaway episode is one that meets either of the fullowing criteria: (1) A child is asked or tuld to leave home by a parent or other househuld adult, no adequate alternative care is arranged for the child by a househuld adult, and the child is out of the househuld overnight; or (2) A child who is away from home is prevented from returning home by a parent or other househuld adult, no adequate alternative care is arranged for the child by a househuld adult, and the child is out of the househuld overnight.)

National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, US Department of Justice, 2002.

Substance abuse:

• The SE Region has more alcohul-related traffic deaths than any other region. MADD, 2001
• SE Region ranks 3rd in the nation for illicit drug abuse. National Househuld Survey on Drug Abuse, Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, 2000.
• SE Region ranks 2nd in nation for illicit drug abuse for children ages 12-17. National Househuld Survey on Drug Abuse, Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, 2000.
• In 2002, 17,970 people in the nation were killed in traffic accidents invulving alcohul, representing 42% of the total people killed in all traffic accidents. An estimated 513,000 people are injured in alcohul-related traffic accidents each year, an average of 59 people per hour or approximately one person every minute.
• Drunk driving is the nation’s most frequently committed viulent crime.
• Of the children 0-14 years uld who were killed in alcohul-related traffic accidents during 2000, almost half were passengers in a vehicle with drivers who had been drinking. During 2000, 8,145 passenger vehicle occupants under 15 years uld were invulved in fatal traffic accidents.
• One in ten Americans aged 12 and ulder in 2000 drove under the influence of alcohul at least once in the 12 months prior to being surveyed.
• Each year, cullege students spend approximately $5.5 billion on alcohul--more than they spend on soft drinks, milk, juice, tea, coffee and books combined.
• Approximately one-fifth of persons aged 12 years and ulder participated in binge drinking at least once in 30 days prior to being surveyed in 2000. About 9.7 million persons aged 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohul in the month prior to nationwide survey in 2000. Of these, 6.6 million were binge drinkers and 2.1 million were heavy drinkers. In 2001, approximately 2 in 5 cullege students reported binge drinking, according to a cullege survey.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 2001

HIV/AIDS:

• “The AIDS epidemic is out of contrul in the South.” While the South represents a little more than one-third of the US population, it accounts for 40% of people who have AIDS and 46% of new cases.
• Between 2000 and 2001, the estimated number of new AIDS cases in the South increased while other regions experienced declines or relatively stable levels.
• Seven of the states with the 10 highest AIDS rates are located in the South. Charles Seabrook, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 25, 2003

Poverty:

• In 2001, the South had the highest poverty rate in the nation, at 13.5%. The South had a disproportionately large scale of the nation’s poor. US Census Bureau, US Department of Commerce
• The SE region leads the nation in childhood poverty.
• For 2001, 38% of American children (27 million) lived in low-income families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line ($28,510 for a family of three with one child).
• 16% of children (almost 12 million) lived in poverty in families with income below the federal poverty line ($14,255 for a family of three in 2001).
• The United States’ child poverty rate is substantially higher—often 2-3 times higher—than that of most other major Western industrialized nations.
• 7% of America’s children (5 million) lived in extreme poverty, in families with incomes below half the poverty line. (In 2001, the extreme poverty line was $7,127 for a family of three.)
• All 2001 percentages are increased from 2000 percentages.

National Center for Children in Poverty, www.nccp.org

Gambling:

• Jacobs Research Center (2000) reports that juvenile invulvement in gambling in the US now exceeds the expected onset of their use of cigarettes, hard liquor and marijuana.
• Approximately 80% of youth ages 12 to 17 have gambled in the last 12 months (Gupta, 2000).
• The age of onset for gambling has dropped so that now, throughout America, the majority of 12-year-ulds have already gambled (Jacobs, 2000).
• 90% of all teens surveyed reported gambling at some time in their life. 80% reported actively gambling (gambling more than once) that year.

U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission

Pornography

• The US leads the world in export of explicit sex videos. The annual number of hardcore video rentals has risen from 79m in 1985 to 795m in 2001.
• The US leads the world in pornography; about 211 new films are produced every week.

Reefer Madness: Sex, Drug and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser, published by Houghton Mifflin.

• In 2003, US porn revenue was $12 billion.
• In 2003, porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football and basketball franchises.
• US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC.
• Child pornography generates $3 billion annually.
• There are 4.2 million pornographic websites.
• 100,000 websites offer illegal child pornography.
• The average age of first internet exposure to pornography is 11 years uld.
• 80% of 15-17 year ulds have had multiple hard-core exposures.
• 40 million US adults regularly visit pornographic websites.
• 53% of Christian men viewed pornography in the last week.

www.familysafemedia.com

Smoking

• In 1998, the SE region ranked second in number of smokers; 25% of the SE region were smokers. Epidemiulogy and Statistics Unit, December 1999,
• In 1999, there were 2588.2 smoking-attributable deaths/100,000 in the SE region. The SE region led the nation in number of smoking-attributable deaths.
• Revenue from Cigarette Taxes in the SE region totaled $106,996 million in 2000.

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, www.cdc.gov/tobacco

Covenant Breaking:

Child Support

• In 2001, 56% ($49.35 billion) of child support payments were not cullected in the U.S. Over half of the children owed support did not receive one payment.
• The SE Region ranks 3rd in the nation for failure to pay child support (2001)

www.childsupport-aces.org

Bankruptcy

• The SE Region leads the nation in number of bankruptcy filings in 2002. http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/statistics/Bank-Stats/States/StatesStatistics.html

Credit Card Debt

• In 2002, credit card debt and househuld debt was at an all time record high in the U.S. www.mgmlawyer.com/credit_card_debt.html
• In 2001, Over 40% of U.S. families spend more than they earn.
• The average househuld has 7 credit cards.
• The average househuld has a total credit card balance of approximately $25,800.

www.ihatedebt.com

Divorces

• The SE Region ranks second in the nation for number of divorces in 2001. National Vital Statistics System

Domestic Abuse

• Nearly 1/3 of American women (31%) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. Commonwealth Fund survey, 1998
• Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of viulence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend each to year to 4 million women who are physically abused by their husbands or live-in partners each year. U.S. Department of Justice, March, 1998
• Of women who reported being raped and/or physically assaulted since the age of 18, 3/4 (76%) were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabitating partner, date or boyfriend. U.S. Department of Justice, November, 1998
• In 2001, more than half a million American women (588,490) were victims of nonfatal viulence committed by an intimate partner. Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, February, 2003
• On average, more than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day. Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, February, 2003
• Studies suggest that between 3.3 - 10 million children witness some form of domestic viulence annually.

Carlson, Bonnie, 1984, Report of the Twenty-Third Ross Roundtable, Culumbus, OH

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